It’s thrilling to think of actually meet your childhood heroes in person, but people often recommend against it—they say that the real, flawed person may leave you disappointed. But sometimes they leave you with a memory that will last a lifetime.

It turns out that one of the best stories of a childhood celebrity encounter comes from a superstar himself.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson recently recalled a hilarious memory about a run-in with one of his wrestling idols.

(Twitter/@KevinMcCarthyTV)

Johnson is one of today’s most-liked Hollywood celebrities, famous for his charismatic personality and way with fans. Currently promoting his new Jumanji reboot, he recently sat down with film critic Kevin McCarthy (no relation to this article’s author), who brought along an old ticket stub to the original film from 1996.

This inspired him to ask Johnson if he had any similar keepsakes from his childhood—and his answer didn’t disappoint.

Many of us first became fans of Johnson as kids when he was WWE superstar “The Rock.” However, back in the ’80s Johnson was just a young wrestling fan himself. It helped that he was the son of pro wrestler Rocky Johnson, who took him to a match he was competing in at Madison Square Garden.

Yo @TheRock, if you need another head band this time you need to give me my rematch then see if you can take it brother!! Lol. Only love but I’m serious about the rematch brother HH https://t.co/IDpN7h6uIb

They might be tough guys in the ring, but it seems like they really do care. Maybe in that moment years ago, Johnson learned firsthand how powerful a good celebrity encounter can be, and he is paying it forward now that he’s an idol to a new generation of kids.

Watch the video below:

This is an amazing story!

When I interviewed @TheRock for JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE, I brought him my original JUMANJI ticket from when I saw it in January of 1996.